Aldi Store Shopping: Tips to Save

The Aldi sale is effective Sunday and lasts thru Saturday. You can find the current ad information online at Aldi.com.

The Aldi deals are posted on Savings Lifestyle on Sunday for the new sale week.

You will see in my Saving Snacks occassionally that I shop at Aldi. I have had people ask me what Aldi is so I thought I would share a few things about Aldi.

Aldi's philosophy is to “provide incredible value every day.” Here are some facts directly from the Aldi website:

We concentrate purchasing power, carrying only 1,400 or so of your most frequently purchased grocery and household items, nearly all under our own private labels. As a result, we get the lowest prices from our suppliers‚ and pass the savings on to you.

We streamline operations, eliminating every feature that increases cost‚ and prices. (See the Shopping Smarter section for details.) When you shop at ALDI, you pay for food‚ and frills.

We adhere to stringent quality standards. Every product we sell must match or exceed the leading national brand in taste, appearance, and/or performance. Our premium produce is shipped faster and smarter, so it comes to your table fresher and cheaper. Were so sure of the quality of what we sell that we back it with our exclusive Double Guarantee. So you can always shop ALDI with confidence.

Now, here are some of Mommy Snacks' facts directly from me :-) :

Bring some green. Aldi will ONLY accept cash or debit cards for payment.

Bring a quarter. You MUST rent their carts for a quarter which is returned when you return it to the cart corral.

Bring your own bags. Aldi does NOT provide any bags. They do offer left ofter boxes that product was shipped in (kind of like the warehouse stores) so you can use those to box up your groceries (which is what I generally do).

No coupons allowed :-( The majority of the brands in the store are Aldi brands, there are some name brands from time to time. I NEVER purchase these because I have found that even if they are discounted from the Kroger and Meijer prices, it is still NOT cheaper since you cannot use coupons.

Now, with all that out of the way, my personal shopping with Aldi is generally monthly or bi-monthly it just all depends what I need (it helps that they are right across from “my” Meijer). And, the produce is hit/miss for me on price and quality. Actually, the apples were more expensive this week at Aldi than the sale price at Meijer (and the Aldi apples were pretty bruised too). Lately, Kroger and Meijer have been having very good produce sales so I've been sticking with them since I don't visit Aldi as frequently.

There are really only a few things I typically purchase and they are all Aldi brand, and can hold up to any name brand in my opinion! These items are priced generally the same all the time. Here are a list of items I purchased (in the picture above) with the prices:

$2.25 Gallon Milk

$.99 Box of Honey Buns 6 ct

$.45/LB Bananas (they are packaged in bunches)

$.99 Sour Cream

$.59 Dozen Large Eggs

$1.49 Instant Oatmeal (I usually don't buy this there but it was a need this week)

$1.99 Salsa in the Fridge section (the BEST salsa…seriously!)

$.99 Bag of Tortilla Chips

$.99 Brown Sugar 2 LB

$1.15 Ketchup 32 oz

$.89 Box of Saltine Crackers

$1.69 Box of Bread (Ritz) Crackers

And, a few other prices I wanted to remember for future reference:

$1.33 Flour 5-pound Bag

$2.08 Sugar 5-pound Bag

$1.99 Shredded Cheese

These prices are good for me to remember in the event I'm out of something and want to find the lowest price if no sales exist. If you want to see if there is an Aldi near you, visit Aldi.com. Also, I just saw that Aldi has a menu planner you can use which is a great benefit. You can find the menu planner on the Aldi site as well.

Do you shop Aldi? What is your overall opinion of the store? What Aldi products do you love? I think my fave Aldi product is that Salsa!

We love aldi. #1 place to get canned veggies and beans. We stock up every year on chili beans, kidney beans because they are $.33 cents around here. Also the fit and lively chicken breast patties are great too. No coupons but good deals.

We just recently started shopping at Aldi. I was nervous to try it because it wasn’t a “typical” grocery store experience but now I really like it. I love that they have organic milk, which I get for the kiddo. My toddler loves the animal crackers. I also love their pre-sliced cheese and the produce is SO cheap.

We just recently got a new Aldi's near us so I went about 2 weeks ago to check it out. I got a few great deals….The basics like eggs, milk, oatmeal, sour cream, half & half, bananas, baby carrots, etc.

I have found it is a great place for staples!!

You must know your prices though….not everything is a good deal…so be careful!!

I have also found since I have not been in a long time that they now carry many name brand products as well!! Some pretty reasonable too!

I love Aldi’s. I shop there for the basics and other things. The produce is usually very good at my Aldi’s, but I have to sometimes be picky. There fresh salsa is the BEST!!! I love the Sweet Onion and the Jalapeno. Their specials each week are usually good. I even buy their meat products (pork chops and ground beef), I have never had any problems with them. I even got 2 lbs of ground beef once for 1.97 because it was set to expire that day. I just froze it and it was fine.

Aldi’s has been a godsend to our family. Since I started homeschooling my three kids, I don’t have the time I once did for couponing. This way I get coupon prices without the layout of time. One other FYI – you can’t do all your shopping there because they don’t carry everything. We usually shop at Aldi’s first and then go to SuperWalmart for the other items we need.

Aldis is owned by 2 German Brothers. One of the brothers also owns Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s is a higher end grocery store. I personally believe that some products at Aldis can be the same at Trader Joes but different packaging. Perhaps the Seafood.

I agree their Salsa is good. I also like their frozen fish, scallops etc. I buy produce there when they have it.

Howard, I did not know that! I just bought some hummus from Aldi today and everyone said the Trader Joe’s brand was just as good. Interesting! I also just bought some Tilapia too – I haven’t tried their frozen fish yet, so it’s good to know someone else has and likes it!

I love Aldi. I have been laid off and have found that Aldi really does give me more bang for my buck. I have a one year old and an 18 year old, we all go together and they can pick out anything they like because I can afford the prices at Aldi and they don’t have alot of unneccessary type items so I know the choices are limited. Our produce is also hit or miss, but we make do. The worst part is remembering to bring my own bags. I keep them in the car now because I have forgetten them one too many times!

Dawn, I know – remembering the bags seems to be the challenge! Now, I keep a few reusable bags in my car in case I need to run in a store quickly too. Good luck finding a new job. I know the economy is tough now. I’ll be thinking of ya!

I love Aldi’s. I shop there about once a month. The milk and bread is great and the price is low. I am a milk snob, lol but I love theirs it is so smooth without that odd taste you can get from off brands. My store usually has great quality fruit and vegetables.

The pork tenderloin is wonderful and at a wonderful price, we love the black pepper tenderloin. The popcorn shrimp is/was less than $2 and is full shrimp not minced like you can buy in the grocery store.

Too bad we don’t have an Aldi’s around here :(
But here’s a tip I read for keeping your car tidy: save a cardboard center from an empty roll of papertowels and stuff it full of plastic sacks. You can easily store it under your car seats to keep it out of the way. This would work for all of those sacks needed for for your groceries(unless you have plenty of green bags) :)

I have been shopping at Aldi’s for a long time. My father introduced me to some of the products they have to offer. Now my daughter (married) and my son (collage student) shop there and love it. The deals are great:) The food is wonderful also:) We stock up when they have a sale or a product that they are no longer going to carry they have on sale for cheap and we will buy a case of it. My son lives about 3 hours from our home and when my Aldi’s does not have something I would like I call him and he goes and gets it from his store and brings it home when he visits. I love the fit and lively products but it seems that they don’t keep all of them in stock. The fit and lively turkey products are always out:(

Thanks for such a helpful post, Andrea! I love Aldi and was very disappointed to not be able to shop there anymore when I moved to Dallas from Detroit. But, they just opened one right across the street from me. Yay!

Here is a little known secret about Aldi. At “my” Aldi in Westland, Michigan, you could find beautiful bouquets of flowers for around $2-$4. They were always in excellent condition, just like they came from a florist! Anytime I needed a hostess gift or just wanted to brighten someone’s day, I would stop at Aldi’s and pick up a nice bouquet for a fraction of the price I would pay elsewhere!

My family shopped a lot at Aldi when I was a kid for things like potato chips, and now that I live in Dallas the stores are finally opening down here and people find it all very mysterious, which makes me laugh. I rarely to never find good produce there – I went in a couple weeks ago looking for green peppers and they were all moldy – every single one. But they also have things like turkey bacon and whole wheat tortillas, so you can still eat healthy even if you are on a budget.

I shop at Aldi every other week. I used to do ALL of my grocery shopping there, unless I needed a specialty item that they didn’t carry. I get two weeks worth of groceries (for a family of two, my husband eats a LOT) for only $60. And if we “splurge” on some extras that we don’t really need, it might go up to $80. Since coming across this site however, I now also shop at Meijer and Kroger. Especially for the meats and produce, because the quality isn’t always as good. But aside from produce and meats, I buy mostly everything else at Aldi.

I love Aldi and do majority of my shopping there. My favorite item there is the fit and lively ground beef. It is as good as the Laura’s Lean at a fraction of the cost. Their thick cut specialty flavored bacon is really good, my kids like the maple and hubby and I like the peppered. Over all there is only one thing we have been disappointed in and that was their smoked sausage, to much grease.

Aldi’s fresh vegetables are the main attraction for me. The milk and eggs are always favorably priced. I was reluctant to try their processed foods, but the frozen lasagna is very good. I don’t buy much meat, but what little I’ve bought from Aldi’s has been good. I confess, I’ve bought offbrand chocolates more than once. The only thing I ever bought that was inedible was a chocolate snack cookie.

also have a great price on the flavored (unflavored too, i think) pork tenderloin. they often have $1 or $2 off on their meat products. They thin cut butterfly pork chops are good. I have found good quality in all meat purchases to date.

although great prices on the canned goods, I’d like to see a low sodium option. The store manager said to contact Aldi HQ for that feedback.

But they do make up for it, at least with frozen corn, at $.60 +/- a bag!

thanks for the great feedback! heading there today and then across the street to Meijer!

I love Aldis. I would recommend their frozen chicken breast over Tyson or Kroger brands especially. I find that they have less grissle and less fat on them. Bread is cheaper there than Krogers. As far as the eggs though, I find it a better deal to buy the kroger large carton of eggs with the plastic lid. Cost around 2 something but it works out for the amount you get around 25-30 eggs in one carton.

We shop Aldi’s for most of our groceries! Really, the only reason we go to WM is because we want to purchase cereal and Kraft Cheeseburger Macaroni Singles. I HATE all of Aldi’s cereal! It is my LEAST favorite thing at Aldis.

Things I detest at Aldi’s:
some of their produce is “questionable”
cereal
canned vegetables have had bits of vegetables that aren’t pleasant and edible i.e. stocks, etc.
Mountain Dew version of soda isn’t even close
yogurt
“fresh” meat…um, where’s the butcher? so, yeah, a BIG no!
mini pizzas are DISGUSTING!

Thanks for the opportunity to share! LOL. Thanks for the information and go ahead to try other foods there that I wouldn’t try without some kind of “expert” opinion first. Who likes to waste their calories and $$ on questionable foods? Not me!

We love to shop at Aldi! We love their milk (regularly $1.89, and sometimes on sale, as opposed to at least $2.79 at regular grocery stores), and other dairy products like cream cheese, yogurt, and butter are much better prices! When their butter quarters are on sale, I like to buy 4 boxes (2 salted, 2 unsalted), and keep them in the freezer!
One thing I have found, though, is that Aldi flour does not bake well. Whenever I bake cookies or brownies with Aldi flour, it doesn’t rise properly or cook thoroughly. I switched to Walmart brand flour and no longer have any problems. Just my two cents :)